[BONUS EP] How to Choose the Right Writing Resources for YOU Right Now, Part 2

A simple decision-making framework to help you find YOUR best writing path.

Yesterday, I shared a framework to help you make any decision about your writing career.

Well—yesterday, I shared part one of that framework.

And today, I’m back on the podcast with part two!

In yesterday’s episode, I coached you through how to identify your values in your writing. What’s truly important to you?

And in today’s episode, I’ll coach you through identifying your needs. What do you need most in your writing, editing, and publishing process right now?

When you know what you value and what you need, making decisions about your writing journey becomes almost easy.

You’ll know what courses you need. What book professionals you want to hire. What specific areas of learning and development you want to focus on.

Ready for complete clarity about your writing journey? Check out the episode.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Join Notes to Novel: alicesudlow.com/notestonovel
• Ep. 48: How to Choose the Right Writing Resources for YOU Right Now, Part 1

Transcript

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Doesn't it feel good to have reached your best decision? You're not following a one size fits all plan. You're not following some random opinion of an internet stranger who may or may not know what they're talking about. You're identifying what you personally specifically want and need. And then you're making an active choice about whether this specific course fits those wants and needs. I want to take a pause here and congratulate you. Welcome to your next draft. This is a lot sooner than you usually get to hear from me again this week, I'm doing a special two-part bonus episode, honestly, because I started talking about a topic that I love and I think is really helpful to you. And I just had too much to say, and couldn't help myself. If we're being really honest, that's what happened. And normally when this happens, I space the episodes out week by week. That's how we end up with episode series. I just have too much to say about any one topic. That's your little behind the scenes peek behind the curtain insight into what goes on. But this week, we have a special case. In this episode series, I'm walking you through a decision making framework that I use to help writers decide what their best next step is in their writing journey. You can use this framework to decide when to hire an editor or when to join a writing course or what to look for in a book coach, or even when to publish your novel. And the example we're using in these episodes is should you join notes to novel right now? Notes to novel is a writing course created by my editor friend, Savannah. Gobo in it. You'll create a roadmap for your novel that will support you through your writing and editing process. You can get all the details on the course at Alice. Dot com slash notes to novel. Right now the course is open for enrollment, but it's going to close tomorrow, Thursday, October 12th, 2023. Which means that you can't wait until next week to decide whether it's the right fit for you or not. One way or another, that decision is happening right now within the next day and a half. So that's why I'm not waiting until next week to share this episode. Instead, I'm bringing you the second episode in a week. The second part of our two part series on how to choose the right writing resources for you right now. I'm going to assume you've already listened to the previous episode and I'm not going to spend a lot of time recapping it. If you haven't. I do recommend that you go back and listen to it first. You can find that episode@alicesubtler.com slash 48. In the last episode, we explored three questions to help you determine your values and your writing, editing, and publishing journey, the values that are going to guide you as you decide, whether notes to novel is right for you. Those questions are. Question one. Do you want to call and help early and often? Or do we want to see how far you can take your writing on your own? Question two. Do you learn best in one-on-one or group settings? And question three, what's your budget to invest financially in your writing? Now that you have a sense of some important things that you value about your writing. Let's talk about your needs, pull out your notes app or the notebook where you journaled your way through yesterday's episode. And let's get back into this coaching session. What does your writing need right now? And again, I have three questions for you here. Question one. Are you in the learning stage or the execution stage? Here's what I mean by that. Writing is a skill. It's a skill that every writer ever has had to learn. And it takes a lot of time and effort and energy and practice and feedback and writing words that do not work. In order to learn this skill. In my experience, writers are continually surprised by how challenging it is to learn the skill of writing. Great novels. It's one thing to pick up a pencil and crank out a first draft in a burst of inspiration. I mean, that's not easy, but it is. Shorter than the larger process here. It's a whole other beast to learn the writing skills that will enable you to turn that first draft into a book that readers will love. You've probably heard that a lot of times, it's not the writer's first ever book that gets published. This is why. I consider that first book, your training ground, the place where you are learning, how to write a book, how to tell a great story, how to create believable characters and make your readers care about them. How to build an immersive world and so much more. Some writers spend years working on one book, editing it over and over and over as they build their writing skills until they turn that book into an absolute masterpiece that makes them a New York times bestselling author with their debut book. Other writers spend months, or maybe a few years working on their first book, then they self publish it and start another and self published that and started another and all the way through they're building their fundamental skills across many books. Most writers are somewhere in the middle, their first books, aren't New York times. Best sellers. But they also aren't self-publishing first drafts. Eventually, if you keep at it, if you take the time and energy to learn, to write. You'll get to a point where the story fundamentals are really ingrained knowledge for you. Yes. You'll keep learning and growing with every book. But all of your later books are built on a solid foundation, solid storytelling fundamentals, right out of the gate. At that point, you shift from the learning stage to the execution stage. That means you're no longer in your training ground book, you have built your fundamental skills. And now you're executing writing book. After book, after book using the skills you've built. The authors you admire the ones who signed books you have on your bookshelves. They're an execution stage. They have learned how to write great books. And of course they're always refining their skills, but when they sit down to write a new book, they're bringing a wealth of story expertise to each new novel. So which stage are you in? Are you in the learning stage or are you in the execution stage? It can be really, really difficult to determine this on your own. But I have some clues for you. You're definitely in the learning stage. If you haven't written a novel before, and you're about to start your first book. You're definitely in the learning stage. If you're writing your first draft of your first ever novel. You're definitely in the learning stage, if you've finished a first draft of your first ever novel, almost always. I find that the first draft of a writer's first ever book will have a lot of storytelling problems that are just baked in. You're probably in the learning stage. If you've worked your way through several drafts of your first novel. I say probably because I've seen writers put in the hard work to level themselves out of the learning stage on their own all by revising that one book over and over and leaning on a lot of craft books. But I've also seen writers work their way through five or eight or 10 drafts of their first books and still be in the learning stage. Missing key storytelling fundamentals. Here's the biggest clue that you've made it to the execution stage. You have gotten positive feedback on your writing from readers? Those readers might be Uh, developmental editor, a book, coach, beta readers, agents, acquisitions, editors, or fans. Who've bought your book and loved it. If you haven't get gotten that glowing feedback, you're probably still in the learning stage. Which of those clues rang true for you? Which one reflected your current writing experience? Are you in the learning stage or the execution stage? Here's where notes to novel fits in these stages. Notes to novel is excellent for writers in the learning stage. It includes 30 lessons on all the fundamentals of novel writing. So you're going to get a fantastic holistic training on the core things that you need to know in order to write a great story. And Savannah has included a ton of bonuses to enhance your learning. I won't go into them all here, but you can check them out at Alice said, though.com/notes to novel. No it's to novel is not really designed for writers in the execution stage with one exception. The exception is if you have strong storytelling skills, but you're really struggling with your writing process, you might find notes to novel, really helpful. Savannah teaches you how to craft a great story. And how to make your novel writing process. Easier and faster. So if you've written books before, but you're looking for a simpler, easier Repeatable process to help you write even more books, notes to novel is a great fit. And if you're in the learning stage, no matter what part of the writing process you're in notes to novel is going to be immensely helpful to you. You can come in with no idea and just a dream of writing a book. Or you can come in with a finished third draft. That's just not working yet. And Savannah is going to teach you how to tell a great story. All right. That question and answer was really long because it's really important. Honestly, I think it might be the most important part of this whole process of discernment. I mentioned yesterday or in the previous episode that one of my favorite questions in this whole process is in this episode. It's this question. This one is absolutely key. If you can get this you're golden. If you can identify whether you're in the learning stage or the execution stage, that's going to give you so much clarity about pretty much everything in your writing life. All right. So that's the first question about your needs now for the second question, too, do you feel isolated in your writing? Think of your writing process. Think of your dream of writing and publishing a book. Does that feel a little lonely? Do you have support around you? Do you have people who are cheering you on. Do you have people who get it, who understand what you're working on and who act as a soundboard for your ideas and help you get inspired and motivated. Or are you writing on your own without a support system around you? I asked this question like this, do you feel isolated in your writing? Because I know writers, if I asked, do you need the support of a writing community? Most of the time, you'd say no. Writers are often introverts. And also it's just human nature to not think about how important community is people. Join gyms in order to work out and accomplish their fitness goals. They don't join gyms because they want community. But often the community becomes the thing that they love the best. So I want you to take a hard look at your writing right now and ask yourself, do you ever feel a little lonely as you chase your writing goals? If the answer is yes. Then I have good news notes to novel comes with built in community support. You'll get Savannah support and the group coaching calls, and you'll also get access to a private notes to novel Facebook group. Where you can connect with all the other writers in the course and get support as you work through the lessons together. If you don't feel a little isolated in your writing, if you look around and you have all the support that you need, that's fantastic. I'm so glad that you have people in your corner. We so easily underestimate how important that is. But it's absolutely essential. You can always add more community when you join notes to novel, it won't hurt. Or maybe the community aspect of notes to novel, won't be a major factor to you as you consider whether the course is right for you and you'll base your decision on the other values and needs. Which brings me to our third and final question about your writing needs. Question three. When do you need writing support? Or to put it another way. Do you need help in your writing right now? Are you stuck in your writing right now and need some support? Or do you have everything you need right now? And you'd prefer to get support at a future time. This is an important question, because there are some kinds of writing resources that you always have access to. You can always download a podcast or read a craft book. But there are other kinds of writing resources. We're timing matters. For notes to novel timing matters, doors to this course close on this coming. Thursday night, October 12th, the course itself will begin on October 16th. And the eight weeks of group coaching We'll continue through early December. The course will open again at some point in the future, but it won't be in 2023. So if you'd like help now to make tremendous progress on your novel this fall, this is your chance to join notes to novel. And another resource where timing matters is when you're working one-on-one with an editor. In that case, you'll need to navigate their schedule and availability to take on your project at any given time. Right now I'm booked up through January, 2020 for The next clients I'm booking are in February. So if you're looking for expert writing support this fall, Notes to novel is the way to go. And that's it. Those are all our needs based questions. Here they are again. Question one. Are you in the learning stage? Or the execution stage. Question two. Do you feel isolated in your writing? And question three. When do you need writing support? And I'll remind you of our values questions again, to these are the questions that we went over in yesterday's episode. Question one. Do you want to call and help early and often? Or do you want to see how far you can take your writing on your own? Question two. Do you learn best in one-on-one or group settings? And question three. What's your budget to invest financially in your writing. Together those six questions can help you understand what's important to you in your writing, editing and publishing journey right now. And when you know what matters to you, you can make informed, intelligent, strategic decisions about the best writing resources to call in to help you. So have we answered our original question? Remember the question on the table is should you join notes to novel now, before the doors close on Thursday? You can use this decision-making framework to answer a lot of questions about your writing, but as an example, to show you how it works, I really want you to answer this question right now. Give it a go. Should you join notes to novel now, before the doors close on Thursday? And as we've gone through these questions, I've created a sort of rubric to help you decide. I'm going to read that rubric out to you. And as I do this, I want you to review your answers and see where your answers fall in this rubric, because this is really where the rubber meets the road For this framework. It's in taking your needs and desires. Once you have identified them and comparing them to the writing resources that you find, do those resources match up. His notes to novel a course. That's right for you. Here we go. If you value calling and helping your writing early. Or you value going far on your own? If you value learning and group settings with other writers. If you value investing financially in your writing in order to improve your craft. If you're in the learning stage of your writing journey, if you feel isolated in your writing, And or if you need support in your writing this fall, The notes to novel is a great fit for you. Go to Alice Southern. hello.com/notes to novel and join the course. Or. If you value learning in one-on-one settings and not in a group. If you have a limited budget to invest in your writing and the notes, novel payment plan does not work for you. If you're in the execution stage of your writing and you have a repeatable novel writing process that works for you book after book, after book. If you're already surrounded by a supportive writing community. And, or you do not want any help in your writing this fall. The notes to novel is not for you. And that's it. You've done it. You have worked through this entire crash course in the framework that I use to help writers determine their best next steps. And you've put it into practice. You have arrived at the decision about notes to novel. That's right. For you. At least I hope you've arrived there. If you're still feeling on the fence about notes to novel. After all of that, send me an email at Alice and Alice Sobo. though.com and let's talk it out. Doesn't it feel good to have reached your best decision? You're not following a one size fits all plan. You're not following some random opinion of an internet stranger who may or may not know what they're talking about. You're identifying what you personally specifically want and need. And then you're making an active choice about whether this specific course fits those wants and needs. I want to take a pause here and congratulate you. This kind of thing is really tough. That's why writers spend so much time posting on Facebook groups. Do I really need an editor? Because it is hard to determine the right choice for yourself, especially in an industry that feels new or unfamiliar. But if you stuck with me this far, You've done it. Congratulations. Also, can you see why I decided not to turn this whole framework into a podcast episode? This is just one piece of my full framework and I had to split this into two parts and there's so much more that I'm excited to cover in the full masterclass. So, if this was helpful to you, definitely keep an eye out for that masterclass coming your way soon. In it, I'll go beyond just this one, writing course and cover so many more writing decisions. You'll learn how to know when you're ready to work with book professionals, like an editor or book coach like me. You'll learn about your priorities for your entire writing, editing, and publishing journey. And that includes decisions about the best publishing route for you. It's going to be such a great masterclass. I haven't seen anyone talking about this in quite the way that I approach it. And I am just champing at the bit to share this with you. I hope that you'll join me. Until we get to that class, though. The idea that I want you to hold on to you is this. Identify what your values and your needs are in your writing process right now. Then seek out the resources that match those values and needs. If note's novel does match your values and needs. There are a few more things that I want to share with you. When you go to Alice hello.com/notes to novel and joined the course. You won't just get Savannah support. You'll also get a couple of bonuses from me, specifically crafted to help you edit your novel. The first bonus is inline comments on your first 3000 words. Join notes to novel and start writing your novel. And when you reach 3000 words, send them to me and I'll give you feedback. The strengths I see in your writing opportunities for improvements and my best advice for your story. As you continue writing forward. And the second bonus is$200 off a full manuscript evaluation. When you finish your manuscript, come back to me for a full manuscript evaluation. I'll read your draft and help you determine exactly what to do to take it to the next level. And you'll get$200 off the price of the evil. And the other thing I want to mention. Is that I am an affiliate of Savannah's course. That means that if you go to Alice southern.com/notes to novel and purchase the course I'll receive a commission. I recommend the course because I've worked with Savannah and I know how excellent her resources for writers are. She's a wonderful writing teacher and she's going to take such good care of your story, but in the spirit of full disclosure, that's important to mention. Ultimately, I am passionate about helping writers find the resources and support. That's exactly right for you at exactly the point in your writing journey that you're in right now. If that's notes to novel. Fantastic. The link you want to go to, as Alice said, lo.com/notes to novel. And if it's not notes to novel, well, keep an eye out for my masterclass where I will share a ton of options for you. And more importantly, my full framework for figuring out what exactly you need in your writing journey right now. And you'll be coming in extra prepared for me to lay a ton more values and needs questions on you. So get excited for that. I'll be cheering you on every step of the way. Happy editing.